Because you wouldn't call what I do writing….

Week 12 – Creativity in new mediums

Anyone a fan of old radio serials? For a generation used to having almost all our senses indulged when it comes to our entertainment, its amazing to think that just over half a century ago, most of tha families that could afford a ‘wireless’ would gather around these marvellous devices in order to tune in to the latest episode of The Green Hornet or H.G. Wells latest attempt to cause mass-panic.

But the call was coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE (Mercury Theatre 1938)

What is also strange is that many of the television shows that featured at the time would also contain the constant voice over narration. It was as though the producers of television shows were still trapped in the conventions of radio.

Which is exactly what they were.

It took years for the current fiml industry to develop, in terms of technical skill, to the point they are at now. And it took the bravely pioneering work of hundreds of producers, and the production of hundreds of movies in order to achieve that.

This week, we had Andy Siamonato come in to talk to us. It was fantastic to hear about his work on “The Magazine” – an online magazine that aimed to push the boundaries of what we believed a magazine to be capable of. As part of the generation brought up on books – and therefore new to the realm of technology – we can often find ourselves caught in old modes of thinking – especially when it comes to something as familiar as a magazine.

After all, magazines are designed to simply sit there, passively alive with information waiting to be plucked off the page, right?

Wrong! Andy’s magazine contains pages slick with interactivity. A concept that, while slightly mundane now – was near revolutionary a decade ago. It is trailblazers like Andy that forge the path for new ways to utlise the medium.

Another traditional art form that is currently in the midst of change due to the Internet is comic books. Webcomics have grown to become a natural part of the internet. However, one thing tha strikes me about webcomics is that, despite the vast real-estate of space webcomic artists have, very few of them are brave enough to venture beyond the usual conventions used in traditional hard-copy book comic books (although, damn you, Dr. Mcninja rocks!).

Instead, we are left with just a few extraordinarily talented individuals willing to push the boundaries, such as Emily Carrol and her wonderful story of Anu-Anulan and Yir’s Daughter (Look at the way she utilises background colour in her storytelling). And even better example of her ability to take advantage of the enormous digital canvas on which she has to paint her work it The Prince and the Sea. Once again, it is the brave pioneering of a brave few that will no doubt help to shape the look of webcomics in the future.

This weeks tute mostly involved talking about the progress of our creative project. Since I needed to maintain secrey regarding my project in order to preserve the full force of it’s message, I instead had the opportunity to talk to Nathan abouthis project. While we differ substantially on several issues, it was enjoyable to have the opportunity to critically think about another persons work, and make suggestions for improvement.

I realise this post is quite short – which is a shame really since this is perhaps my last post for this semester. I would, however, love to thank both Beth, Matt, Nat and Vanessa for this semester – I had a really enjoyable time in class. If you gain the opportunity to read through my Project development journal, you will see that I have made some minor discoveres during the course thanks mostly to my interactions with my new friends, as well as the informative nature of the readings. I hope to continue this blog into the future – it’s been extremely enjoyable just throwing my ideas out there.

Kid Radd: Another webcomic that fully explores the wonderfully multi-media nature of the internet. Featuring hilarious eighties references, engaging and likeable characters, and an absolutely phenomenal use to gifs, this is one comic I reccomend setting an entire afternoon aside for. Do not be fooled by the simple art – this is one long-term story that’ll grab you from the inside.

Dr. Mcninja: He’s a doctor who also happens to be a ninja. That’s all you need to know.